CCPR/C/114/D/2134/2012 versión libre statements before the special court for justice and peace, none of them acknowledged the disappearance of Mr. Anzola and Mr. Molina. During the proceedings, Commander Isaza claimed that he had “developed Alzheimer’s” and had forgotten everything about alleged human rights violations. The authors note that the Human Rights Committee, the Committee against Torture and the Committee on the Rights of the Child have all expressed concern over Act No. 975 and its compatibility with the Colombian State’s obligation to investigate serious violations and try and punish the perpetrators. 2.13 The Colombian Commission of Jurists, meanwhile, submitted petitions on behalf of the authors, requesting information about the enforced disappearance of Mr. Anzola and Mr. Molina. The petitions were addressed to the Justice and Peace Unit of the Attorney General’s Office (23 September 2010 and 18 January 2011), the Executive Directorate of the Military Criminal Justice System (22 September 2010), the Counsel General (24 September 2010), the Attorney General’s Office (18 January 2011) and the Puerto Triunfo District Office of the Attorney General (12 January 2011). 2.14 On 17 November 2010, the Fourteenth Brigade of the army replied that information had been sought from the commander of Infantry Battalion No. 3, which had been operating in the area where the enforced disappearance of Mr. Anzola and Mr. Molina took place, but no details had been forthcoming and no disciplinary investigation had been conducted in that connection. 2.15 On 11 October 2010, the Ministry of Defence replied that, as the offence had not been committed in the line of duty, it fell outside the jurisdiction of the military criminal courts. 2.16 On 30 September 2010, the Counsel General’s Office stated that there was no disciplinary investigation into the enforced disappearance of Mr. Anzola and Mr. Molina. 2.17 The authors submit that, even though numerous complaints were l odged with the police and the public prosecutor ’s office and proceedings were instituted before the disciplinary and criminal justice authorities at the local, departmental and national levels, the case has not been properly investigated. Context: Enforced disappearances by paramilitary groups in the Middle Magdalena region 2.18 The authors point out that there is a heavy military presence in the Middle Magdalena region. With the emergence in the region of the guerrilla forces of Ejército de Liberación Nacional (National Liberation Army) and the arrival of various factions of the guerrilla group Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia), the armed forces decided to give priority to the region in a process of militarization that reached its peak in the 1980s. The armed forces committed crimes against the population, with the support of paramilitary groups which claimed responsibility for the crimes using various names (MAS, Macetos, Los Tiznados, among others). According to investigations conducted by the Counsel General’s Office and criminal court judges, these groups were formed and/or supported by the Colombian army 2 and their legitimacy was recognized publicly by the highest-ranking officials in the armed forces. The groups developed and associated themselves with legally constituted organizations such as the Middle Magdalena Campesino Farmers Association (ACDEGAM) 3 and even a political party, __________________ 2 3 GE.15-15601 El proceso de paz en Colombia, 1982–94 – Compilación de documentos, Tomo I, Biblioteca de la Paz, Office of the High Commissioner for Peace, Bogotá, 1998, pp. 510-514. According to the Amnesty International report of 1994 entitled Violencia política en Colombia: mito y realidad (Political violence in Colombia: myth and reality), in late 1989 judicial police 5/20